It was a hard fact that I had to get used to the clothing I was expected to wear. I couldn’t just start dressing in masculine stuff and expect everyone to accept it. Maria already boasted a large and diverse wardrobe of different items – dresses, nightgowns, blouses, skirts and dress shirts. I had some amount of leeway in choosing what I wanted to use, but immersing myself deep into the ‘character’ of Maria was essential to fitting in. In the grand scheme of things, I had performed much more humiliating acts to complete a job than wearing a dress. I just kept in mind that I had become Maria and that nobody would find it odd for me to wear my own clothes. With that said, there were many elements of current-day fashion that I could not abide by. Corsets were used by many women to try and give themselves a curvier figure. I much preferred being able to breathe properly.
The full weight of the gap between my old self and new persona became apparent when I entered the underwear section of one of the many high-class boutiques that surrounded the main avenue. A rainbow of pastel colours descended upon me from all sides, complete with ribbons and floral patterns carefully weaved into every silk panel. This was not my natural territory. Franklin recused himself from coming with, averting his eyes and claiming that “the women’s segment is no place for a man like me.”
I felt that very strongly.
But I was Maria Walston-Carter. What kind of girl my age didn’t engage in things like this? I had already pushed my luck with becoming an experienced sports shooter – this was just for the sake of balancing things out. I found myself going slowly for the sake of giving off the impression that I was taking my time and closely inspecting each option. To me, every bundle of underwear and bras were the same, just in differing colours and materials. I’d already made my selection of something sensible and dark before I even entered the building. Sensible was in short supply, but it was enough to keep me in clean underwear for a full week without having to clean them. I paid for a bundle of underwear and returned to Franklin.
“There’s no need to be so red in the face. Do you not need undergarments yourself?”
He sputtered, “There’s a lot of differences between men's and women’s... you know. It’s rude to stare.”
I was just messing with him.
I had successfully completed all of my chores in record time. We exited the store and travelled back down the main avenue. There was an almighty ruckus that had broken out along the way. I had noticed a small wooden soapbox that someone had set up by the side of the plaza, and it was now occupied by a man who sought to destroy his own vocal cords by shouting at the top of his lungs. There was no way to ignore what he was saying. He even had a wooden sign painted with a catchy slogan to really sell the street-corner protestor look. A small crowd of irritated onlookers had gathered to try and shout him down.
“The Compromise is nothing more than a tool for parliamentarians to control the proper working order of our nation! Walser thrived for hundreds of years under the guiding hand of our royal family – we have no need of these ‘lawmakers,’ ones who don’t have the divine right to lead! Have we so readily forgotten that the Van Walser family protected us from evil time and time again? We are walking to our own destruction!”
Franklin was not amused, “Is this what they’ve been making such a fuss about lately? How foolish.”
“Someone is going to attack him if he is not careful,” I whispered. Franklin grimaced and ushered us away before such a thing occurred. The wounds of the internal conflict were still fresh to some. Those who sought to modernize the nation through democratic revolution, and those who believed that the old ways would continue to serve it well. From a monarchist’s perspective, the compromise was not much of a compromise at all. It served exclusively to intrude on the traditional powers of the royal family and prevent them from interfering with parliament.
There were a lot of people like that lone protestor. They shouted into the void in the vague hope that their perspective could sway the masses. It had been done a thousand times before with hundreds of other self-styled revolutionary leaders. A soapbox and slogan weren’t enough in this era of entrenched power structures. It would take time for people to come around to a new form of government; but they were not eager to burn everything down to go back. The government would have to anger them directly through its policy-making first.
“They’re nothing more than a nuisance. Don’t they have anything better to do?” Franklin despaired.
“There’s no harm in speaking your mind, at least until someone takes umbrage with it.”
Franklin was sceptical, “What good does the voice of a single man do? The Van Walser family is hardly going to follow his recommendations and assert their power again.” He paused as he realised that he was speaking about politics and current events with someone less than half his age. It would be best for me to not push the matter any further lest I arouse undue suspicion.
“I can’t say I’m familiar with the matter at hand.”
I was very familiar with the matter at hand. It was one of the things that I had done deep amounts of research into using Father’s newspapers. Years after it happened it was still the topic on everyone’s minds, something that had divided Walserian society clean down the middle and brought about a significant level of turmoil. The author was trying to lay the groundwork for sequels and spinoffs to come but I never played any of them. It could have been a piece of unused set dressing for all I knew. It took on new significance now that I was living in a world that had brought things into reality. It was realistic that those events would come to affect me in time.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Ah. I think I’d be happier without knowing, Ma’am, but what’s done is done. We all must live in the same times together for better or worse. I would be overjoyed to state with confidence that you need not worry about such things.”
Remaining silent was my only good choice, so I did just that. The rest of the walk was mostly uneventful until we neared the lot where the carriage had been parked. I could instantly tell that one of the women walking in the opposite direction was looking at us. Combined with their huddle posture and restless hands, I identified her as a pickpocket. My instincts were proven correct as she intentionally stepped into my path and tried to ‘accidentally’ bump into me. I stopped dead in place and didn’t allow her to execute the sleight of hand required to pilfer my purse. Her eyes widened in blind panic as her hand met empty air.
I was not expecting her to try it again after already missing the first time. Her arm lashed out like a coiled viper and tried to sneak into my pocket, but I deflected the movement and slipped my leg between hers, hooking the back of my foot around hers and pushing. She wailed and tumbled back at the simple self-defence technique. It wouldn’t have worked on someone with any training at all. Franklin finally caught on to what was happening and leapt between us so as to protect me from harm.
“Take your hands off the young Mistress this instant!”
She scrambled back to her feet and ran for it, slipping away between the crowd and out of sight before he could stop her. Franklin was furious that someone had tried to rob me on his watch, and even more angry about missing it the first time. I checked my other pockets and made sure that everything was still in place.
“I appear to be in one piece, Franklin.”
“We should speak with the police and have them-”
I cut him off, “The police aren’t going to be able to find a single pickpocket based on a description from me. And they have bigger problems to solve.” Franklin grumbled but accepted my point. It would be a tremendous waste of time for everyone involved to report the incident to the police. It would get thrown onto an ever-growing pile of other non-violent acts and ignored for months. Violent crime was the big issue of the day, and the government had made a big deal about directing the police to crack down on it.
“The Master is going to be furious,” he despaired.
“What he doesn’t know will not trouble him. I remain unharmed and un-robbed.”
Franklin objected, “I cannot keep my silence on matters referring to you, Ma’am. That is the one essential responsibility that he gave me. I would be betraying both his, and your, trust in doing so.”
I could have ordered him to do whatever I pleased – but I saw no reason to. Franklin was going to report back to Father regardless of what angle I attacked him from. It was irritating because he’d surely institute new rules to try and keep me out of trouble. As the only heir to our branch of the family, he wanted to protect our collective interest as much as possible.
“If that is what you wish to do. I will not object.” Franklin wasn’t sure if he had offended me or not through his stubbornness, but his loyalty to the job and my Father was greater than his loyalty to me. We returned to the carriage and waited for the horses to finish recuperating before departing for the campus. It was an eventful trip, but not as eventful as the worst case may have been. The killer hadn’t followed me.
On the ride back, I tried to come up with a new approach.
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Claudius was starting to grow frustrated. His instincts were screaming to him that something was going on. The teachers had all started to act differently, and none of the others in his class had noticed that the promised practical magic lesson from last week had not occurred. Instead, they were hastily bundled back into the classroom for a lecture on some of the future topics that they would be covering. It had all started after their third session together in the yard. Claudius thought back on all of the books that he had read and took inspiration from them. When Thaddeus Jones became stuck during the mystery of the bloodied curtain – he returned to the starting point of the story and found an essential clue.
Claudius had noticed some of the teachers loitering in the training area. Despite that and the cancellation of the practical lesson, there had been no edict issued to the students about staying away from it. If he was going to find a foundational clue, this was going to be the place. Maria and Felipe had stayed behind to speak with each other at the time. What had they spoken about? And how did it relate to the behaviour of the staff afterwards? It demanded a thorough and detailed investigation of the site.
Initially, it seemed as if nothing had changed at all. All of the dummies were in their usual places, as were the markings on the grass. But something did catch Claudius’ eye. One of the trees had been damaged. The lighter colour that had been exposed on the inside made it extremely obvious from a distance. He leaned in and took a closer look. The bark had been ripped clean from the trunk. Several sharp pieces jutted outwards as if they had been struck by a severe impact. His imagination kicked into gear, transporting him back to the moment when Maria and Felipe confronted each other away from the eyes and ears of the others. Harsh words were shared, menacing glares cast on each side, and then came the first blow!
Thwack!
The shattering of aged bark rang out across the academy as Maria unleashed a devastating punch. Claudius shivered as he imagined the fear that must have run through Felipe’s system, as he discovered that he was in clear waters with a bloodthirsty shark! There would be no objection from his side as Maria demonstrated her mastery over him. In reality – it was the mark left after the bullet impacted the tree at a shallow angle. Claudius had never seen a bullet hole in person before, and the collateral damage to the relatively soft tree had obscured that fact from him.
“I can’t believe that Maria would do something like that,” Claudius murmured gravely. Considerations like the strength required, the wounds that would have been left on her knuckles, and the leaps in logic he was making were mere background noise in the face of an overwhelming and rapidly developing conspiracy. Claudius had done his research into Felipe and Beatrice Booker, so he knew that they were betrothed to be married once they graduated. It was the clearest motivation that he could think of. Was Maria trying to exploit Felipe in some way? Was she trying to make him break his betrothal for her own sinister purposes?
Whatever the reason, he wasn’t going to stand for such a foul injustice! He swivelled on his heel and marched back towards the main building with a head full of frenzy and a chest filled with bravado. He was going to expose Maria for the villainess that she was in due course. All he needed now was the testimony to support his case.